Overheated Exhaust Fan Sparks Thayer Street Fire In City

Eric Tichy

City Editor

etichy@post-journal.com

No one was reportedly injured in a fire that broke out early Saturday on Thayer Street. City fire investigators said an overheated exhaust fan caused the blaze.
P-J photo by Eric Tichy

An overheated exhaust fan reportedly sparked a fire at a Jamestown apartment complex early Saturday.

No one was injured in the fire at 111 Thayer St., which broke out around 3:55 a.m. Officers with the Jamestown Police Department helped some of the 14 occupants of the apartment complex evacuate.

Andrew Finson, battalion chief with the Jamestown Fire Department, said smoke and flames were visible from a third-story window when crews arrived. Finson said the fire managed to work its way into the rubber material on the roof.

A dozen off-shift firefighters and an additional battalion chief were summoned for assistance.

Finson said the fire broke out in one of the building’s vacant apartments. City fire investigators determined the fire was the result of an overheated exhaust fan left on inside the apartment’s bathroom.

The vacant apartment sustained heat and water damage in the fire while an apartment below sustained water damage. The remaining apartments were not impacted by the blaze, Finson said.